Lucky #13 is in the books! I had a friend and his family out to watch. Hand toss was good, flight was great and the landing was cake. Wow. I never thought I would see the day that these elements would all be in perfect synchronicity on a regular basis. The sound of the twins screaming at WOT echoing in the woods sounds SO cool!!

#16!!! Congrats Aros! I just had a successful #7, and I was pretty stoked. Honestly, the only thing that has slowed down my progress are the silly servo-less retracts that I put on. At first, I was struggling with the nose gear... now it's the right main... and I've been out flying everyday for the past week, but haven't gotten the Habu out of the truck since last Friday.

Had the school all to myself today. A cloudy affair. Hand toss was bliss. She broke from my hand without a hint of drop...Straight forward, no bank...It wasn't until I applied up elevon that she halted course.

Kept WOT for the entire flight. I don't like to push my batteries (see: Lifeline) so I flew for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Dead stick for the glide slope, kept a touch of down all the way to the earth...Perfect.

Aros, that is awesome. You have to give me the Cliff's notes to what you think is working for you when you get a chance, 'kay bud?

Thanks buddy...No problem:

1) WEIGHT

In the past, I had my girls waaaay overweight. Needed to put them on diets and I didn't even know it. The recommended AUW is somewhere around 37 ounces and my #8 weighed in approximately 54 ounces! The afterburnerz are SWEET but on this particular airframe they were too heavy mixed with the oversized battery I was using at the time. MY lucky #9 is much closer to the recommended AUW.

2) GET A GRIP PAL!

This will only matter if you plan to hand toss/belly land but if you do, it is essential you establish an excellent grip. Since the bottom of the fuse is a deserted flat land, you need to create a system that allows you to get a firm grip. I chose not to add any weight by adding a brace or something to grip so I simply carved out holes that I could place my thumb, middle finger and index finger in (sort of like a bowling ball). Now I can grip her with authority which has almost guaranteed a successful hand toss all by itself.

3) OH LORD LET THY GRAVITY BE CENTERED!

Some planes or jets have a fairly liberal adjustment curve aft and fore of the recommended CG whereas I discovered if you make sure this bird is dead nuts 78MM (all other issues being correct as well), it is the perfect sweet spot. Anything outside of that and you're going to find how sensitive it is to being too tail or nose heavy.

4) THROWS

Pretty straight forward here. Make sure your pitch authority is maximized while making sure your roll authority is limited. Actual throw numbers may vary but that is the fundamental paradigm at play.

Well, that to me is the four fundamental aspects of success with this bird. Thanks to many in this build thread to pound those secrets of success into my head, no matter how long it took.

There really could be a fifth addition and that would be style of flight but that seems obvious. She's a missile that wants nothing but speed with that nose carving the winds straight ahead. Gradual pitch change is fine but any sudden movements in pitch or roll or slow speeds as in what you would do in sport, aerobatic or 3D flight and you will likely be needing a plastic bag to pick up the pieces.

As you can see with my latest video, I get her on the race track and pattern fly her from start to finish. This keeps both pilot and plane happy.

In the past, I had my girls waaaay overweight. Needed to put them on diets and I didn't even know it. The recommended AUW is somewhere around 37 ounces and my #8 weighed in approximately 54 ounces! The afterburnerz are SWEET but on this particular airframe they were too heavy mixed with the oversized battery I was using at the time. MY lucky #9 is much closer to the recommended AUW.

2) GET A GRIP PAL!

This will only matter if you plan to hand toss/belly land but if you do, it is essential you establish an excellent grip. Since the bottom of the fuse is a deserted flat land, you need to create a system that allows you to get a firm grip. I chose not to add any weight by adding a brace or something to grip so I simply carved out holes that I could place my thumb, middle finger and index finger in (sort of like a bowling ball). Now I can grip her with authority which has almost guaranteed a successful hand toss all by itself.

3) OH LORD LET THY GRAVITY BE CENTERED!

Some planes or jets have a fairly liberal adjustment curve aft and fore of the recommended CG whereas I discovered if you make sure this bird is dead nuts 78MM (all other issues being correct as well), it is the perfect sweet spot. Anything outside of that and you're going to find how sensitive it is to being too tail or nose heavy.

4) THROWS

Pretty straight forward here. Make sure your pitch authority is maximized while making sure your roll authority is limited. Actual throw numbers may vary but that is the fundamental paradigm at play.

Well, that to me is the four fundamental aspects of success with this bird. Thanks to many in this build thread to pound those secrets of success into my head, no matter how long it took.

There really could be a fifth addition and that would be style of flight but that seems obvious. She's a missile that wants nothing but speed with that nose carving the winds straight ahead. Gradual pitch change is fine but any sudden movements in pitch or roll or slow speeds as in what you would do in sport, aerobatic or 3D flight and you will likely be needing a plastic bag to pick up the pieces.

As you can see with my latest video, I get her on the race track and pattern fly her from start to finish. This keeps both pilot and plane happy.

Hope this helps!

And, if I could pile on... keep a bit of speed on the approach (by keeping the nose down, or flying a shallow power-on approach) and try to land with a very shallow angle of attack. Should you choose to try and fully flare out the landing for a buttery-soft touchdown, be forewarned that this Habu can coil straight up and bite you before you even get a chance to try and correct your mistake if you push her too far -- and any correction that you make in response, probably won't work...